Cleaning Up

 

Getting back from an epic 2500km of dirt obviously leads to a need for some maintenance - or perhaps not if you are slack or lazy - but a thorough wash and close look over the bike is a good idea. 

After so much dust I also needed to check the air filter to see how it was faring. It was still the experimental filter from Funnelweb  that I had installed just over 12 months ago.  I was hoping they weren't looking for timely feedback as I just don't do the distance or ride in others dust if I can help it. But this trip I rode behind Steve a bit plus the other traffic threw up a fair bit of dust so it definitely needed checking. 

A quick re- watch of some YouTube tutorials (as I've only done this once before) for the Desert X filter location is a bit of a mission to get to. 🙄

Only a small amount of swearing was required to get the tank off today.  This revealed a fair bit of dirt and dust on top of the air box. 

Getting the filter out I was pleased to see that the inside of the airbox was absolutely spotless. The dust caught in the filter seemed to only be on the surface with no penetration at all. 

The design of the Funnelweb has a shoulder that gets squeezed between the top of the airbox and the lid (the black edge you can see in the photos above that is crushed into the shape of the lid lip) so that no dust can get in around the edges of the filter. 

Excellent!

As I have had a Uni Filter for the DX sitting here for almost two years I decided to put it in as the Funnelweb needed to go back to the distributor for inspection.

The Uni Filter is a two part unit with the main filter element/cage with a thin (red) pre filter sitting on top. The filter comes with a second pre filter with the reasoning being that you can simply swap the pre filter mid ride if you need to without the need to wash the whole filter. 

The pre filter says it is pre-oiled but I could not detect a skerrick of oil on it despite it being sealed in a plastic bag from the factory.  

So,  I dipped it in my Maxima dirt bike filter oil and then wrung it out. 

Looks dirty but that's the blue Maxima filter oil.  

The filter cage is a reasonably tight fit into the airbox recess but common sense (and Uni Filter recommend) applying a layer of grease around the sides of the filter to seal the edges.  Messy and unnecessary with the Funnelweb filter (which as a side note was very well pre oiled when it was new).

We will see how the Uni Filter goes but honestly I think it will be fine.  I'll probably get another Funnelweb installed at the 30 000km service as I like it's design better.

As for the rest of the bike, it cleaned up nicely with nothing obviously loose or needing attention on it.  I have decided to just leave the plug in the rear puncture and not bother getting it repaired from the inside as I estimate there is only a few thousand more kilometres life left on it and it will cost at least $100 to get it seen to. The temporary plug is holding just fine with no leaking at all. 😉

With ~22 000 trouble free kilometres now on the bike I could not be happier with my Ducati experience thus far.  The bikes performance meets all expectations and my biggest worry,  the reliability, is simply not an issue. Maybe I need another late model Ducati in the garage..........🤔

Cheers. 

Test Pilot - Funnelweb Desert X Air Filter Trial

Late last year I was given a pre- production Funnelweb air filter to test in the Deserrt X. I had already purchased a Unifilter for it…..which had sat on the bench for at least six months. My reluctance to fit it was 100% because of the difficulty in accessing the air box on the Desert X…..and this reluctance didn’t change when the Funnelweb arrived. The following video is probably the most succinct version of the Desert X tank removal.

So, armed with this example, I decided to launch into fitting the Funnelweb. It went pretty well until I got to the controversial vent tubes. One came off easily. The other…..not so much. Twenty minutes of pulling on it by hand, then pliers, then by hand and pliers again - this time while cursing profusely - then resting while considering using a Stanley knife 😡……and then one last huge yank on the tank saw it finally come free! The Italians had glued the bloody thing on! 

WTF?

Offending vent tube is the lower one. Grrrr….Top tube is the one that kinks and implodes the tank 🫤

The top of the airbox is held on with six self tapping screws. Classy move there Ducati! Of course, two of them are inaccessible unless you are willing to strip the frame 🫣 so I had to make do with just the four rear screws to access the genuine filter.

Looking forward on the bike with the Ducati paper filter still in place.

I was pleasantly surprised to see how clean it was after 13 000km of use. I had been in discussions with another Funnelweb test pilot who claimed to ride in clean air (I always ride alone on the dirt) and whose filter looked like it had had a handful of dirt dumped on it!

The Funnelweb does look the business and comes pre-oiled. 

Very well pre-oiled too.

It also comes with a nitrile glove……which I clearly didn’t find until later…..🙄

There is talk that the standard Ducati filter is a bit of a loose fit in the airbox edge recess but I found mine hard to pluck out of the recess, so it was well sealed/fitted. The Funnelweb goes one better, not only fitting into the recess but also having a wider top edge that gets squeezed between the airbox and it’s cover giving a fantastic seal.

Putting the whole shebang back together wasn’t too bad. I had fitted the internal spring to the top vent tube as per the Ducati recall. This next video is by the other Funnelweb test pilot, Darren, who does a great job of describing some double checks so one doesn’t implode their fuel tank due to vacuum.

Tank about to go back on.

The tank went on easily in the end. Like most jobs, once you know how to attack it, it becomes much easier. I reckon I can have the tank off in about ten minutes next time. Now to get the bike out for some testing……but first a mountain biking trip to Tassie needs my attention.

Does anyone want to buy an unused Desert X Unifilter……?

EDIT 23rd March 2024 - Darren, the other rider testing the filter for Funnelweb has logged 3000km of dusty riding on his test filter.  He runs an adv touring company so gets the kilometres up fast,  following a bunch of bikes to deliberately expose the filter to dust. From the photo of the disected filter,  it looks to be doing it's job well.